This coming week Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey is kicking off a series of Town Hall meetings across the county to give citizens an update on economic development and to hear from them about any concerns they have.

“We are doing them in all eight of the legislative districts,” Humphrey said. “We’re doing two in the 6th District because of the location of Little Milligan and how remote that community is.”

Having community Town Hall meetings has long been a goal of Humphrey’s.

“I think it’s important to get out into the community,” he said. “Unfortunately, the work schedule has been such that we’ve not been able to before.”

“We need to get out and bring the people up to speed on where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where we are going,” he added.

As part of each of the Town Hall meetings, Humphrey will give a presentation of the newly released Corporate Attraction video and the new website which the county was able to acquire through an Economic and Community Development Marketing Assistance Program Grant from the State of Tennessee. Humphrey said he would also give a progress report from his Office of Economic and Community Development. Humphrey said the new video and website will be a significant boon for the county when it comes to recruiting businesses and industry to locate here.

“We’ve got to market ourselves. We are a product,” Humphrey said. “We can’t just sit here on our laurels and wait for the people to come to us.”

Humphrey said following his presentations, the meetings will be opened up for question and answer sessions. He said he had extended invitations to members of the Carter County Commission to join him for the meetings in their district so they will also be available to answer any questions from their constituents.

“We want to focus on each of the communities and hear from them what is important to them,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said he hopes the Town Hall sessions are well attended, and he would like to be able to host more of these meetings in the future, preferably at least once a year.

“I would like to see this continue,” he said. “I know this is the first time I’ve been able to do this county-wide.”

All of the meetings will take place at 6 p.m. at their respective locations. Below are the dates and locations for the various meetings:

• District 1 – Tuesday 11/7 – Unaka High School

• District 2 – Thursday 11/9 – Roan Mountain Cloudland High School

• District 3 – Tuesday 11/21 – Watauga Town Hall

• District 4 – Tuesday 11/28 – Carter County Courthouse

• District 5 – Thursday 11/30 – Milligan College

• District 6 – Tuesday 12/5 – Little Milligan Elementary School

• District 6 – Tuesday 12/12 – Hampton High School

• District 7 – Thursday 12/7 – Happy Valley High School

• District 8 – Thursday 12/14 – Elizabethton High School